Hero
See also List of heroes. Heroes are playable characters in Heroes of the Storm. Each hero starts the game with a set of powerful abilities and traits, and over the course of the battle players have the ability to customize their hero with unique talents and heroic abilities as they level up.2013-11-09, BlizzCon 2013 – Heroes of the Storm – FAQ. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2013-11-10 Each hero has an assigned class, but some can be developed towards another class as they level up.2013-11-11, Heroes of the Storm: Sixen Interviews Dustin Browder. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-01 Each hero has an ultimate ability they can choose.2013-11-08, BlizzCon 2013 - Heroes of the Storm - Building the Nexus. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-17 Each hero has four classification attributes - Damage, Utility, Survivability (health and/or self-sustain), and Complexity - and fit one of four roles: *'Assassins': Assassins do a great deal of damage, and are classified in two categories: Physical (damage through Basic Attacks) and Spell (damage through Abilities). It is recommended that they try to kill enemy heroes and avoid counter-attacks.2013-11-08, Heroes Of The Storm Reveal. MOBA Monster, accessed on 2013-11-11 *'Warriors': Warriors are tough, and often have ways to stun or block the enemy. They should be used to protect one's allies. Warriors often are melee attackers. Warriors are classified in two categories: Tanks (high health and peeling abilities to protect their team) and Bruisers (not so resilient, but can deal more damage). *'Supports': Supports often buff or heal their allies. Keeping fellow heroes alive is their role. *'Specialists': Specialists have a variety of abilities. Many are good at taking down enemy towers, but others have powers that can change the flow of the game. They are considered "masters of uncoventional warfare". Heroes level up as a team rather than individually.2013-11-08, BlizzCon 2013 - Heroes of the Storm - Building the Nexus. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-12 Customizable skins can be unlocked for heroes through loot boxes or purchasing with Shards / Gems.2013-07-12, Blizzard All Stars: The Future of MOBA. MOBA Monster, accessed on 2013-09-16 Hero colors and skins can be changed during selection.2013-12-09, BlizzCon 2013 - Heroes of the Storm - Sizzle v 3 02. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-17 Heroes engage in banter with each other that reflect their backstories.2014-01-22, Heroes of the Storm Developer Q&A Part 2 (Jan 22, 2014) – Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2014-06-11 The majority of heroes are slightly altered from their host universe in terms of appearance, so they can be recognized as being of Heroes of the Storm in aesthetic, if not necessarily in origin.2017-11-07, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Interview | Blizzplanet. YouTube, accessed on 2017-11-15 Roster When it comes to choosing heroes for inclusion, Blizzard uses the following processes and sources: *Art: Some heroes are inspired from art. Stitches is an example—despite not being a major character storywise or offering unique gameplay, the artist wanted to include Stitches due to his physique, and how he would stand out in the game. *Cinematics: If a hero has appeared in a cinematic, they are likely to appear in the game. *Gameplay: Heroes that inspire the team in terms of unique gameplay potential are likely to be chosen. Abathur is an example of this. For hero retrieval, Blizzard uses three teams—art, lore (cinematics), and gameplay. The three teams come together when deciding what the roster will be. Lore and fantasy are the main factors for choosing a hero. If the hero was playable in a former game, their abilities are usually based on their abilities in said game. Abilities are cut down if there are too many.2014-03-15, DESIGNER INSIGHTS: TALKIN' 'BOUT TYCHUS. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2014-06-25 It is harder to port heroes from older games than newer ones due to the simpler art assets used. In some cases, a hero is chosen simply for being iconic in its host setting.2015-06-07, Press Event Q&A Recap, Eternal Conflicts Concept Art. Heroes Nexus, accessed on 2015-06-22 There is no set ratio for heroes in regards to which universe they come from. There is, and will be, more heroes from the Warcraft setting than other Blizzard settings due to the size of the Warcraft universe. However, the developers intend to try to split the hero roster along Blizzard's major universes.2014-05-30, Blizzard Says Heroes of the Storm Is "Much Closer to a World of Warcraft Experience". Gamespot, accessed on 2014-05-31 Blizzard intends to release a new hero every 3-4 weeks.2015-06-07, Press Event Q&A Recap, Eternal Conflicts Concept Art. Heroes Nexus, accessed on 2015-06-22 There is no cap on the amount of heroes the game will feature.2015-01-30, Blizzard will add Heroes of the Storm characters 'forever until we get sick of it'. Polygon, accessed on 2015-02-01 The process is refined enough that Blizzard can plan up to eight months ahead to stagger its release cycle. Rotation and Purchase *Every week a player can choose from five heroes that are freely available. Once a player accumulates enough experience and reaches level 12 an additional hero slot is unlocked. One final slot is unlocked at level 15 . Hero rotations are updated every Tuesday at 2:30 PST. *A player can gain permanent access to a hero through purchase, using one of two forms of currency. The first is gold, which is earned by completing in-game objectives. Players unlock the ability to start earning gold at level 5, and are awarded more gold as they level up in various ways such as completing Daily Quests, which are unlocked at level 6. Heroes may also be purchased using real money with either a credit card or by purchasing a Blizzard battle.net point/gift card in stores. **With Heroes of the Storm 2.0, purchasing heroes may be done with either gold or gems. Gem prices range from to . *Prior to purchase, a hero may be used in the "Try Me" system. This system allows players test out individual heroes on a closed custom map. Minions, abilities, forts, and cooldowns can be toggled at will. This allows a player to get familiar with a hero before committing to purchase.2014-03-12, HEROES OF THE STORM PREVIEW: UNLOCKING THE HERO WITHIN. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2014-05-31 Skins and Tints Each skin, including a hero’s starting skin, has at least two additional tints available, for a total selection of three or more available tints per skin. A hero’s original tint is immediately available, and each of the two additional tints can be unlocked for individual heroes through Hero Quests. The first unlockable tint is awarded after completing an individual hero’s second Hero Quest, and the second unlockable tint is awarded after completing an individual hero’s fourth Hero Quest. Additional skins can be purchased with real money. Additional skins will be made available through events, or they will be given to players who have completed their hero's sixth Hero Quest. Like a hero’s original color tint, each skin’s two additional tints can be unlocked for individual heroes through Hero Quests. Some skins will include new voiceovers, movement alterations, or extra effects on attacks. These aesthetic effects are purely cosmetic and do not affect game play in any other way.2014-03-12, Heroes of the Storm Developer Q&A Part 3 (Feb 20, 2014) – Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2014-06-20 AI Control Heroes may be controlled by artificial intelligence instead of players. In this case, AI's will follow a players pings, such as honing in on objectives or following a player's hero. If a player leaves the game, their hero is taken control of by an "elite AI." Currently this corresponds to higher difficulties. Through development it is intended that these AIs match the player's MMR at the time of their departure, and can perform actions such as skill shots.2014-08-20, Heroes of the Storm Interview with Kaeo Milker. Icy Veins, accessed on 2014-08-23 Development Initially, when a player first played the game, they would only have a few heroes available to them at first. As one played matches, more heroes would be unlocked. When an individual had earned all of the heroes, they could begin unlocking cosmetic “prestige” items by winning games with specific heroes. Prestige items would include alternate weapons, crowns, and other accessories.2011-10-31, Blizzcon 2011: Blizzard DOTA FAQ, Photos, & Video. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2011-11-07 In 2014, creating a hero took about 1-2 months. 2-3 weeks were spent on character modelling and texturing. Afterwards, the model was animated over the period of about a week, though this could vary depending on the model's complexity. Around this time the hero would be handed off to the effects team, who would create artwork for the hero's abilities. The amount of time this took varied (e.g. a hero who utilizes summons would require more work). Over time various art reviews would occur. Once the hero neared completion, skins could start to be applied.2014-12-05, HEROES OF THE STORM AMA TRANSCRIPT. Blizzpro, accessed on 2014-12-07 As of 2018, the average hero development time is 6-9 months.2018-04-07, HEROES DEVELOPER INTERVIEW FROM PAX EAST. Blizzpro, accessed on 2018-04-10 During early development, heroes would be buffed if fellow heroes were in the same game with them that were related in lore (e.g. two terran heroes from StarCraft would buff each other per their shared origin and species). The game quickly "warped" in testing around these interactions, and the buffs were dropped.2018-03-28, Meet the Developers Turning StarCraft Units Into Heroes of the Storm. Red Bull Esports, accessed on 2018-03-30 Phases of Hero Creation #Paper Design: Lasts about two weeks, where a hero designer will work on coming up with the strengths and weaknesses of the character, their description and also the abilities that they will be using. During this time there's a lot of back and forth with the rest of the heroes development team, the design team particularly, to try to nail down what that kit is. #Tech Design: Once the team is confident with the paper design, a technical designer will take it and turn it into a playable hero. #AI Playtests: The hero is tested against AI opponents, to look for things like kit synergy problems and bugs. This phase allows balance opportunities. #Design Playtests: These design play tests lasts for eight weeks for each hero. They are carried out every morning five days a week for two hours per day. They include hero designers, map designers, and balance designers. #Dev Team Playtests: After the eight week period, a new four week period of testing begins, where the entire development team can play the new hero and send in their feedback.2015-12-28, BlizzCon 2015 Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2016-01-01 Free Heroes September 16, 2016 After downloading the September 13, 2016 patch and logging into Heroes of the Storm, all players were able to add a new Hero to their collections for free: *On login, players were able to pick one of the following three Heroes: Anub'arak, Thrall, or Tyrande. *If any of those Heroes were already owned, they were replaced by Nazeebo, Sonya, or Uther on the selection screen. *Players who already owned all six of these Heroes automatically received 4,000 Gold instead. Warcraft movie promotion Players who purchase a physical copy of the Warcraft movie will receive Gul'dan for free. Patch changes * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * References zh:英雄 *